Meet Our Team
Dr. James Leahey, D.V.M
Veterinarian
Dr. Leahey was born and raised on his family farm in Lee. He graduated from Cornell University in 1967 and established Valley Veterinary Services in 1980. Dr. Leahey has always done a combination of large animal and small animal medicine and running his own family farm in Lee.
Dr. Leahey now is semi-retired. He fills in for the doctors at Valley Veterinary Services on occasion and still helps to perform some specialty surgeries. He also is the Lee and Lenox Animal Health Inspector.
Dr. Julie Shanahan, D.V.M
Veterinarian
Dr. Julie Shanahan started her lifelong pursuit of animal care as a child rescuing everything. Knowing she wanted nothing more than to become a Veterinarian, she worked after school and on weekends walking dogs and cleaning kennels at Valley Veterinary Service.
After she received her Doctorate in Veterinary Medicine from University of Tennessee in 1993 she re-joined Valley Veterinary Service, this time as an associate Veterinarian. Over the many years she became partners and finally the owner of Valley Veterinary Services.
Dr. Shanahan was born and raised in Berkshire County. She is the daughter of the late James Shanahan of Shanahan’s market in Stockbridge, and Midge Shanahan of Midge’s in Stockbridge. She currently resides in Becket. Her special interests include: surgery, medicine, laser therapy, acupuncture and dentistry.
In her spare time, her hobbies include horseback riding, snowmobiling, swimming and skiing. She has 3 beautiful German Shepards, 3 curious cats, 4 rambunctious horses, 3 noisy exotic birds and 60 wild chickens. Her daughter, Nikki, who is 15, wishes to someday follow in her mother’s footsteps and become a veterinarian.
Dr. Susan Schoen, V.M.D
Veterinarian
Dr. Susan Schoen, joined Valley Vet Services in June 2017. She practiced small animal veterinary medicine for over 25 years on Cape Cod, Massachusetts. Dr. Schoen grew up in a suburb of New York City where she dreamed of being a marine biologist, veterinarian and farmer. After college she pursued a career as a marine biologist at the University of California, Santa Barbara, but realized her true calling was veterinary medicine. She moved back East to be with her family and attend the School of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. After graduation, she moved to Falmouth, Massachusetts where she practiced veterinary medicine, swam in the ocean, raised her two daughters, Emily, 22, and Jessie, 17, and developed a passion for training border collies and raising sheep.
Last fall, Dr. Schoen and her daughters re-located to Pittsfield to pursue her dream of owning her own sheep farm. She has about 60 sheep, 5 Border collies, 1 Border terrier, 2 horses, and a guard llama named Penny. She has fallen in love with the area and the people.
Dr. Schoen loves getting to know animals and their people. She is especially interested in geriatric medicine, lameness, sports medicine and physical therapy.
At the moment she is “cat-less,” so she enjoys all the cats she meets through her work.
Dr. Schoen trains her Border collies to herd sheep and competes with them at sheepdog trials throughout the summer. She is bringing a 50- acre farm back in to use, so spare time is rare, but if she had any she would swim, hike and cross country ski and practice yoga.
Dr. Amy Damers
Veterinarian
Dr. Amy graduated from Cornell in 2000 and has been practicing in the area ever since. She lives in Sheffield with her family, three dogs and two cats.
Eden
Certified Veterinary Technician
Eden joined the Valley Veterinary Service team in February of 2018, she has been a technician for 7 years. She possess a strong passion for emergency medicine and anesthesia/surgery.
She enjoys making a positive difference in the lives of not only the animals but their owners as well.
Outside of work, Eden enjoys spending time with her husband Josh and their son Dominic. They love camping, hiking, and fishing together. She also shares her home with three dogs and one fabulous feline.
Mariah
Senior Technician
Mariah joined the Valley Vet team in the fall of 2016. Mariah graduated from BCC with a degree in Heath Science. She was born and raised in the small town of Glendale. Growing up she always knew she had an extreme passion for animals and caring for them. In her spare time Mariah enjoys riding her horse and competing all over New England with him. She also enjoys hikes with her two dogs, swimming, and being around her family.
Savanna
Technician
Savanna joined valley vet in summer of 2020. She has always had a passion for working with animals. Savanna enjoys time with her boyfriend Arjay along side with their dog, Scout, and kitty, Priscilla. Savanna also has a bunny Dallas. Savanna enjoys going out on atvs, riding horses, camping, fishing and hiking, along with snuggling her fur babies and reading the day away.
Cady
Technician
Cady is originally from San Diego but currently lives in New York with her fiancé Quinn, her two kitties Shug & Olive, and her bunny Miso. She has been a vet tech for 8+ years now and she loves what she does! In her free time, she likes to spend time with her family and travel with Quinn. She particularly enjoys seeing botanical gardens and baseball stadiums while exploring new cities. She is new to Valley Veterinary but hopes to be apart of the team for years to come!
Cassandra
Technician
Cassandra grew up in the town of Great Barrington and is a bilingual Spanish and English speaker. Cassandra started in the spring of 2024 and is excited to continue her animal care career with us. Cassandra loves spending all of her time caring for animals and spends her days off dog and cat sitting.
Anthony
Technician Assistant
I was born and raised in the Berkshires. I lived in San Deigo for about 5 years. While I was living there I worked with animals and fell in love with it. On my off days, I enjoy taking my dog, Vito, on hikes and going over to visit his friends. I also enjoy playing basketball and just staying active and outside.
Kendall
Technician
Bio coming soon!
Kate
Technician
Bio coming soon!
Liz
Office Manager
Liz grew up in Great Barrington and now lives in Ashley Falls with her family. She worked as a technician for years and now also does wildlife rehabilitation. Liz shares her home with cats, turtles, a bunny and a pot bellied pig.
Christa
Lead Receptionist
Christa grew up in a small town outside of Asheville, NC and has been in the veterinary field since 2007. She is a neonatal and special needs kitten foster for the past 10 years and has recently started working with feral kittens. She likes to spend her free time gardening, cooking, reading or playing video games. She has cats, 2 house rabbits, and an LGD who guards her chickens, ducks and geese.
Lindsay
Receptionist / Technician
Lindsay joined Valley Vet this past summer. Her passion for Animals started as a young child. Growing up, you could find her at the barn with her horse or in the woods with her dogs. She is pet CPR and first aid certified and worked as a technician for several years prior. Lindsay's true passion is veterinary medicine and helping all kinds of animals. Lindsay lives at home with her boyfriend, son, three dogs, four goats, two ferrets, and her Birds. Lindsay spends her free time with her family and fur babies.
Heather
Receptionist
Heather has lived her entire life in Lee Massachusetts and has had a passion for animals since she was 3 years old. She has a love for cows and has a bachelor's degree in animal science from the University of Rhode Island where she spent most of her time working with farm animals on campus. Heather lives with her boyfriend and her spoiled kitty Winston. She enjoys playing video games, binge-watching tv or reading a good book.
